Episode 4
“Alright, I have business with you.”
About an hour after I started the threat, the duke showed up in the lab after hearing about the situation.
A man who looked like he had bitten everyone nearby sat calmly in a chair.
He was just sitting with his legs crossed, but he felt more terrifying than the guards who had charged me before.
He ordered everyone out like this was a boring nuisance, but he actually looked kind of interested.
“So, you figured out why I adopted you.”
“You figured it out?”
His voice sounded cooler, like his curiosity had been piqued. He probably thought some lowborn brat could not possibly know the mansion’s secrets and that I was babbling nonsense.
“You planned to use me as a sacrifice for Aphelion Rehaven, didn’t you?”
The fingers that had been tapping the armrest stopped suddenly.
The bored expression on his face shifted into a cold, blank stare.
“What?”
“Aphelion Rehaven is the god child who will be the source of power, and I am the other one who will have my energy drained. Right?”
The man had no time to scold my rudeness. His brain was probably busy calculating everything he needed to avoid
being exposed.
“If I die, your plan would fail. Aphelion would be half a person then.”
I took advantage of the duke’s moment of confusion to plant my wedge.
“But I have no intention of dying. I’m too young to die.”
“So, how about I make you an offer.”
I began a negotiation, standing firm and acting like he had no option to refuse.
But to my surprise, his tone turned crooked.
“An offer?”
His voice sounded oddly tilted. That meant my clever plan might be going the wrong way.
Why? My power was clearly something they desperately needed. If I refused cooperation, it should put them at a loss.
So why wouldn’t he accept?
The duke strode toward me, faster than I expected. A large hand blocked my view for a moment and then landed on my shoulder.
“A god child is a god child, huh.”
“You reached the truth with that ignorant head of yours.”
Pressure settled on my shoulder, followed by intense pain.
I could not even open my mouth from the sudden agony. His grip felt like he could break my bones any second.
“But blood like yours can only do so much.”
If he had squeezed a bit harder my shoulder would have crumbled.
This man was stronger than I thought.
Even without being able to manifest magic, I could sense his raw power.
Dominion Rehaven, head of the Rehaven family, said to be the strongest in the empire.
How could I beat him, in my current state?
The duke sneered.
“You dared to stand against me even though you tremble at such shabby power.”
“This is why you should not pamper the lowly.”
Suddenly his expression hardened and he shoved me.
I was thrown onto a cold sheet, and his shadow fell over me like a storm.
“If I knock you out and inject the drugs, everything will be over.”
“Even if you remember, who cares? Just erase all your memory. Or bind you in the lab and siphon your power bit by bit.”
His words were the worst-case scenario. They did not sound like empty threats. I was actually frightened.
“Ridiculous. You are just waiting for my power to manifest. Don’t try to scare me with such nonsense.”
But if I got locked into his pace here, it would only go in his favor, so I forced myself to sound confident and answered back.
“It does not matter. Even if you take only half of my power, Aphelion would become transcendental. That would be enough for the perfected god child.”
That answer was true even from his point of view.
Maybe he saw through my bluff, but he also showed a bold willingness to accept partial power extraction if it meant strengthening Aphelion. He spoke like he would take part of my power if it came to bargaining.
He sounded so confident that I had nothing left to say.
I could not lose here. If I backed down now I would be no different from the original Chloe Ritz. Stamped as just a battery, nothing would change.
If giving up meant walking the same path as the original Chloe, then I might as well risk everything. I had to do something.
I needed an idea that would humiliate this arrogant man and force him to stop the injections. Something so huge that he would obey my offer.
Please, think of something, Chloe!
A bookshelf behind the duke suddenly caught my eye.
In the original story, the duke’s lab held all kinds of experiments. Things like making monstrous beasts or developing elixirs for immortality. They collected rare ingredients and deadly poisons.
Later on, the duke himself would die because of something in that lab. Two harmless substances combined into a lethal poison. The duke drank what he thought was an elixir of immortality and died a ridiculous death.
This was secret knowledge only someone who knew the original could have.
What could be more valuable than knowing the enemy’s own death?
I chose to use the most powerful thing I had: my knowledge of the original story.
“I know the future.”
The duke, who had been playing with a syringe, casually looked up. He probably assumed I was rambling from fear.
To prove I was telling the truth, I had to reveal a near-term prediction.
“Aphelion Rehaven will not win the sword tournament at the harvest festival one month from now.”
“What?”
“He will lose by a narrow margin. Though of course you bribed the judges so he still ends up declared the winner.”
The duke’s brow twitched.
They kept the judge-bribing secret, so my words might sting. He was surprised.
“Do you expect me to believe that? My son will not be defeated. Aphelion is a god child.”
“We will see in a month.”
Suddenly the duke hesitated, the syringe in his hand lingering. That was the first proof he might listen.
I got bolder, feeling one step closer to winning.
“The great one told me the world’s future.”
“Wouldn’t you regret erasing me and losing that future knowledge? This is information Aphelion does not have.”
Even a transcendent being could not grab that future knowledge. It was tempting.
The duke’s golden eyes flicked between me and the syringe. He was wavering.
“If you erase my memory, the future info will be lost too. Even if you tie me up and take my power piece by piece, you will not get that future knowledge.”
Before he could think of a counter, I closed off all his options.
He had to realize then: if what I said was true, the only sensible move was to free me now.
Soon the syringe in his hand lost strength. It rolled off, clattering to the table leg and fell with a soft sound.
Dropping the syringe was like a signal. The duke was ready to negotiate.
I rose and walked slowly toward him.
For some reason, though I was looking up at him, I felt like I towered above him. It felt like I had control.
“The future I know can give you endless victory.”
I said it with strange triumph.
“So why don’t we decide my fate in a month?”
“Let’s make the negotiation happen then.”
